The present invention relates to a method for depositing a freely dropping, flat object and a suitable depositing device.
Flat objects, in particular mail items of different mass and surface area, are to be deposited individually from pockets in containers located below, with the pockets and containers moving at different speeds from each other. A speed can thereby also be zero. The objects are deposited aligned to one or two edges. This alignment is a requirement for further processing by machine and for sequence sorting and the associated subsequent manual handling by the mail operator.
If a freely dropping, flat object—the object will generally drop in its longest (flat) direction close to the vertical due to the force of gravity—has to be deposited into a lower compartment, wherein a wall that is at an angle in relation to the vertical is used as a flat deposit point for a flat side of the flat object, the following problems occur.
On the one hand the front (lower and thinner) edge of the mail item in relation to the drop direction may strike the angled wall such that the angle of incidence between the flat side of the mail item and the wall is too large. This can cause the mail item to be damaged or crushed. This effect increases even more, the larger the format or weight of the mail item. In the case of magazines with a large number of pages, some pages can for example suffer particular damage.
Unwanted but also generally unavoidable friction between the mail item and the wall must also be taken into account, as this can result in incorrect alignment of the mail item in the compartment. If the compartment becomes blocked by the mail item, this can result in dramatic situations for further mail items as they arrive.
DE 199 43 362 A1 sets out a facility and method for ordering flat mail items, which have a delivery sequence to allow the number of deposit points and control elements for sorting mail items to be reduced. A freely dropping, flat object will thereby drop in a direction close to the vertical due to the force of gravity and be deposited into a lower compartment, wherein a floor that is at an angle in relation to the vertical is used as a flat deposit point for a flat side of the flat object.